Caroline Rooney

Caroline Rooney
July 13, 2015

All I knew about Summit was what I had heard from my mom, aunt, and cousin from their trips a few years back. I knew my mom and aunt went to some sort of camp that doubled as a type of summer school for adults in Tennessee. They then sent my cousin to Summit Colorado the summer before her freshman year of college. My cousin said that despite her whole floor coming down with a stomach virus, she still managed to have a great time. So with that, I took her word for it and decided I would attend this mysterious summer camp.

Before arriving at Summit, I didn’t bother to look up anything about it. From my mom, aunt, and cousin, I knew it was an evangelical camp, and I would attend some lectures while staying in Colorado. After getting off the plane and talking to other students in the airport, I learned that we were staying in a town called Manitou Springs and would be sleeping in an old hotel; this was all news to me.

During orientation that first night, we received our binders for the two weeks. They were intimidating to say the least. I was overwhelmed just by looking at the schedule of lectures and activities – over the course of two weeks I would sit in on roughly 60 hours of lectures! Now, after surviving those 60 hours of intimidating lectures and the firehose amount of information, it feels like everything flew by in the blink of an eye.

Over the course of two weeks, I learned (or tried to process) more information than I thought was possible to go over in 14 short days. Coming from Chicago, most of my friends are very liberal and have different opinions than I do. What I’ll take away from most of my time at Summit is how to address the very heavy topic of pro-life vs. pro-choice. After sitting through many excellent lectures on this topic, I now know much more about embryology, the processes and effects of abortion, and statistics that many people are not aware of. I will challenge my friends to think on this issue, and I’ll encourage them to Save the Storks!

I’ve grown up in a Christian household and my faith has always been more a habit than an intrinsic effort. I wouldn’t think that two weeks could so significantly affect my view on my own faith, but it certainly has. From morning Bible study to touching an ancient Torah, these past two weeks have opened my heart and mind into believing in a much bigger God than I knew before.

The habits and lessons I’ve learned at Summit Ministries have been an essential steppingstone in my walk with Christ, and I look forward to growing in a community of believers and Summit alumni.